Hello all you people of Toms Hardware.
So to preface this, I know this whole LGA 1366 Xeon thing has been covered to death on here, as it's very popular. I know this thread is going to sound a lot like many other threads from people asking similar questions. However, I haven't found anyone who's succeeded with the configuration i'm looking at, doing what I'd like to do.
Okay, so here's my situation. I have a $100 budget (+-$10) for a board and CPU. I'd like to get the most performance for my money, and i'm willing to buy used on eBay. I've settled on the LGA 1366 platform because of their 6-Core Xeons and support for DDR3 on the cheap. Old OEM server boards are what I'm looking for.
Ultimately, I would like to have a 6-Core machine that can do video editing without suffering too much in games, due to the historically mediocre Xeon clockspeeds compared to their i7 counterparts. I know that for gaming, I can get a 1st Gen i7 but I'm set on the 6-Core Xeons. So here's what I've come up with:
Motherboard:
HP Z400 Gen2 (586968-001) X58 Chipset
(2010 refresh aka Gen2)
~$40 on eBay.com
CPU:
Intel Xeon W3670 HT 6-Core 3.2-3.5GHz
Supposedly unlocked
~$40 on eBay.com
Other Accessories:
~$25 for USB3.0 and SATA 3 PCI-e Cards
So those roughly fit within my budget. The W3670 is also on the Z400 Gen2 support list, based on this specsheet.
I do have a couple of concerns though regarding RAM, a cooler and a power supply. I'm using a Corsair Builder 600W PSU, 16GB of Unbuffered standard DDR3 and a CM Hyper 212 Evo. I've heard rumors of the Z400 only supporting ECC, as well as requiring a custom cooler. I also know for a fact that the 24-Pin ATX power connector will require rewiring which is why I've also added a 24-Pin extender cable which I can mod to my list of parts. The 212 Evo supports LGA 1366 but I'm not 100% sure it will support the Z400, and I don't know about the RAM.
I keep seeing people saying that the Xeon W3670 is unlocked for overclocking too. According to this, the Z400 motherboard has the X58 chipset which, on a non OEM board, would be a nice recipe for overclocking. This is an HP workstation board though, and I know well enough that it won't support overclocking out of the box through the BIOS.
Unfortunately, I don't have the money to burn on a $100+ ASUS Overclocking board or a Xeon W3690 and I'd like to overclock if at all possible. I've heard of people overclocking their Xeon W3680's to 4GHz+ using the Z400 board and ThrottleStop because it has the X58 chipset, but I don't know if that's reasonable or reliable (thread: here.) I'm fine with FSB tuning using software if I can save some money. I'm really hoping to be able to accomplish at least something in terms of a clock speed boost (Like this guy), since I know the Xeon W3670 can do it on a good motherboard.
So here's my question:
Has anyone tried overclocking the Xeon W3670 on the Z400 motherboard via ThrottleStop? Will my Corsair 600W PSU, 16GB of DDR3 and Hyper 212 evo be compatible, even if they might require some modding?
I would appreciate any information I can get,
Thanks!
So to preface this, I know this whole LGA 1366 Xeon thing has been covered to death on here, as it's very popular. I know this thread is going to sound a lot like many other threads from people asking similar questions. However, I haven't found anyone who's succeeded with the configuration i'm looking at, doing what I'd like to do.
Okay, so here's my situation. I have a $100 budget (+-$10) for a board and CPU. I'd like to get the most performance for my money, and i'm willing to buy used on eBay. I've settled on the LGA 1366 platform because of their 6-Core Xeons and support for DDR3 on the cheap. Old OEM server boards are what I'm looking for.
Ultimately, I would like to have a 6-Core machine that can do video editing without suffering too much in games, due to the historically mediocre Xeon clockspeeds compared to their i7 counterparts. I know that for gaming, I can get a 1st Gen i7 but I'm set on the 6-Core Xeons. So here's what I've come up with:
Motherboard:
HP Z400 Gen2 (586968-001) X58 Chipset
(2010 refresh aka Gen2)
~$40 on eBay.com
CPU:
Intel Xeon W3670 HT 6-Core 3.2-3.5GHz
Supposedly unlocked
~$40 on eBay.com
Other Accessories:
~$25 for USB3.0 and SATA 3 PCI-e Cards
So those roughly fit within my budget. The W3670 is also on the Z400 Gen2 support list, based on this specsheet.
I do have a couple of concerns though regarding RAM, a cooler and a power supply. I'm using a Corsair Builder 600W PSU, 16GB of Unbuffered standard DDR3 and a CM Hyper 212 Evo. I've heard rumors of the Z400 only supporting ECC, as well as requiring a custom cooler. I also know for a fact that the 24-Pin ATX power connector will require rewiring which is why I've also added a 24-Pin extender cable which I can mod to my list of parts. The 212 Evo supports LGA 1366 but I'm not 100% sure it will support the Z400, and I don't know about the RAM.
I keep seeing people saying that the Xeon W3670 is unlocked for overclocking too. According to this, the Z400 motherboard has the X58 chipset which, on a non OEM board, would be a nice recipe for overclocking. This is an HP workstation board though, and I know well enough that it won't support overclocking out of the box through the BIOS.
Unfortunately, I don't have the money to burn on a $100+ ASUS Overclocking board or a Xeon W3690 and I'd like to overclock if at all possible. I've heard of people overclocking their Xeon W3680's to 4GHz+ using the Z400 board and ThrottleStop because it has the X58 chipset, but I don't know if that's reasonable or reliable (thread: here.) I'm fine with FSB tuning using software if I can save some money. I'm really hoping to be able to accomplish at least something in terms of a clock speed boost (Like this guy), since I know the Xeon W3670 can do it on a good motherboard.
So here's my question:
Has anyone tried overclocking the Xeon W3670 on the Z400 motherboard via ThrottleStop? Will my Corsair 600W PSU, 16GB of DDR3 and Hyper 212 evo be compatible, even if they might require some modding?
I would appreciate any information I can get,
Thanks!